Tag Archives: IT job opportunities

IT Recruiting: Persistent or Overly Aggressive… Back Off

Chances are you have heard it is good to follow up with hiring managers after IT job interviews.  Sometimes, this is not the case if you are working with an IT recruiter.  When IT contractors choose to work with technical recruiting companies, they develop their relationship with client companies through IT staffing firms.  Before you sit down to type out a thank you email to the hiring manager, consult your technical recruiter and read on for more tips.

Let IT Recruitersdo their job!

The gift of IT headhunters is they do some of the hard work for you.  Trust that they will in fact follow up with hiring managers for a prompt response and relay that information to you in a timely manner.  Remind yourself that IT recruiting companies would not be in business if they were not determined to land their IT consultants positions.  Instead of trying to nix the middle man, sit back and let technical recruiters take the reins.

Desperation is a turn off

A phone call with the recruiter along with a thank you to the hiring manager is necessary.  In the thank you, ask your recruiter when to expect feedback or a decision timeframe.  If you follow up more than the suggested time frame, you will be pestering your recruiter, which may lead him to believe you are impatient rather than persistent.  It is unlikely that he would forget to provide feedback, so he most likely has not heard back yet.  Also, by keeping to yourself you will be able to focus on other upcoming interviews and IT job opportunities.

Did the interview go well?

If you are sitting by the phone waiting for feedback, try to reflect on how the interview went and how badly you want this role.  If this position did not fit your interests or skill level, then you can relax during the wait period.  For IT jobs that meet your qualifications, calling in to check with your recruiter once is acceptable, but avoid going overboard with emails, texts, and phone calls.

If your recruiter gave you a specific time frame and has not responded to you in a timely manner or provided feedback, reach out to them.  They may be busy, but it is no excuse to not respect your agreement and keep you hanging.

Too Competitive in the IT Staffing World

Almost everyone can recognize the overly competitive and often overachieving technical recruiter.  Rather than being supportive of other’s accomplishments, they hide in their cube and dwell over their latest feat.  When they do not reach their own goals, they punish themselves and others with a severe attitude and immense workload.  When does competitive turn from ambitious to toxic?  Read on for clues that you may be too aggressive in the IT recruiting office.

Me, Me, Me

If you are only concerned with yourself at IT staffing companies, you will bring down the team.  Not utilizing or participating in teamwork is not working effectively or efficiently.  Share resources, make suggestions, and provide feedback to make positive changes for technical recruiters, hiring managers, and candidates.  You will be a more valuable asset to IT recruiting companies than if you are just reeling in revenue and soaring above your peers.  There is nothing wrong with trying to improve yourself by setting realistic, attainable goals, but just make sure you are not hindering other IT recruiters or being selfish in the process.

Short Run Focus

Focusing solely upon the present may bring in leads, interviews, and new IT job opportunites, but are these quality results?  A solid deal that will bring in long term revenue is better than a short term prospect filled with risk and doubt.  Rather than turning to the easy route, challenge yourself by achieving long term goals and assignments.  Remember that that quality of your output is more important than the quantity.

Miserable

Finally, being competitive with your own team is bound to make you unhappy and the added stress unhealthy.  When you are upset that other IT headhunters succeed, you will make the team feel uncomfortable.  Instead of taking on more than you can handle, ration your work and focus on your own goals.  As others achieve, congratulate and ask for tips.

When you begin to feel envious of your co-workers’ accomplishments, focus on your goals and make small steps toward improvement!

 

Informational Interviews and Shadowing

In the IT staffing Industry, there are many techniques aimed at helping a candidate land an IT job.  As a prospective  candidate, you should utilize all of these “tricks of the trade.”  One “trick” our IT recruiters recommend is trying to schedule an informational meeting with a potential IT hiring manager.  Most managers and executives like to talk about how they got to where they are.  It gives them a chance to look back on their IT career and see what got them there. Another great way to learn more about that IT job you hope to have one day is shadowing an executive or manager for a couple of hours or a couple days.  You would of course first have to make sure they feel comfortable with this.  They can tell you, the job seeker, what technical skills you need to know and the different tasks they handle throughout the day. So when you can’t find too many IT job opportunities, try getting to know IT managers and executives.  Not only will you likely learn something about the IT industry, you’ll make an important contact as well.

Experiences from our IT recruiter Intern

This summer we hired 3 interns to help us out with recruiting information technology candidates.  We went through the interview process and identified the right candidates for our IT recruiting internship program.  They seemed to be a good fit with our company culture and appeared to have the drive/motivation.  Looking back, we were right.  Each has proved to us they have the skills and qualities to be a successful recruiter in the IT staffing industry.

Now that the summer is coming to an end, our interns chose to tell us about their experience working as an IT recruiter for one of the fastest growing IT staffing companies in the country.

He summarized his experience like this:

1. People Skills

Having people skills is a factor that helps talking to prospective candidates about the different IT job opportunities you have available.  An IT recruiter needs to know how to connect with a candidate on a personal level to make them feel comfortable and willing to listen to what you have to say.

2. Cold Calling

An IT recruiter will receive many applications to job postings, but in the end, you will need to go digging through a resume database for some candidates that fit the IT job description

3. Phone manners

IT recruiters need to work on their phone manners, especially when you are constantly working with prospective candidates.  Acting in a professional manner will always help keep the candidate interested and comfortable.

4. Hard Work

In order to succeed you need to put in the time and effort.  Nothing is free in life and you need to work hard to get the results you want.  Finding the right candidate is not as easy as picking a name out of a hat.  An IT recruiter has to search through databases and applications to find candidates who will fit the IT job description, as well as the culture in the company.

Overall, our IT recruiter interns felt that they learned valuable lessons from working in the IT staffing Industry.

Is the IT industry going Green?

Lately there have been many blogs and articles about the Information Technology industry going green.  More companies are looking to create products that are environmentally friendly while remaining efficient.  Combining the two things is hard but businesses are beginning to research and look into the possible solutions.

IT recruiting companies are using less paper and relying more on technology.  Hiring manager’s typically read resumes instead of printing out piles of paper.  Technology is driving the green revolution, IT contractors are also beginning to learn more about these solutions and new IT job opportunities are opening up.  This trend of going green is slowly catching on, but seems to be growing at a quicker pace, as environmental changes appear to be effecting us more.

Should you start looking into getting certified to work on green efforts?  It might be a good idea to give yourself that extra line on your resume.  Hiring managers are always looking for something that will differentiate you from the next candidate.  Even if they aren’t working on green solutions they might in the future.  It will then give you an advantage over other candidates!

Working with an IT Recruiter – Communication is Key

IT recruiters are constantly looking for candidates to fill positions for IT jobs.  They go through resume after resume looking for qualifications.  However, a resume can only say so much.  The important piece to any successful IT job placement is communication.

Build a relationship with IT recruiters and use a few different IT staffing agencies that you feel comfortable with.  Let the IT recruiter get a sense of your personality and the kind of environment you are looking for in an IT job.  The more they know about you, the more accurate they can be with their IT job opportunities. Be open and honest with the IT recruiter and expect the same in return.  Set expectations from the start.

In addition, keep in touch with the IT recruiter, as it will help make you stand out and ensure he or she turns to you first when the appropriate IT job opens up.  Lastly, finding a new IT job is all about networking.  IT recruiters are networking on a daily basis, by connecting with them (ie Linkedin); you’re significantly increasing your personal network as well.